How Sleeping in a Japanese Bed Taught Me a Simpler and More Pleasant Lifestyle
The best and easiest way to adopt a more minimalist lifestyle
Unpretentious advice that was remarkably helpful even before I understood it
“Did you put away your bed yet?”
My grandma would call out from the kitchen, as she began to put together breakfast for my siblings and I. It was a habit I wasn’t quite used to yet, putting away my bed first thing in the morning, but my grandmother’s orders were not one to be ignored. With the help of my siblings, we’d obediently fold up the blankets and futon mattresses, stack the pillows, and tuck them away into the closet.
Unlike western beds, Japanese beds are traditionally laid on the floor, as thick mats called futons. Rather than leaving them out, they are folded and put away every morning, so rooms can be used for other purposes than sleeping.
I found the chore of putting away a futon bed very cumbersome at first, for I was going to have to pull it out and set it up all over again at the end of the day. Why not just leave it out in the bedroom? 9-year-old me would point this out to my grandma, as if I made an eye-opening revelation — you would save both…
